Faith, family and basketball are life in Hartville and in that order.
Few communities are as basketball-crazed as Eagle Nation. But, for one of the Ozarks true “Blue Bloods” there is one glaring omission from the trophy case.
“We need a boys basketball state championship,” said Hartville senior Grant Dedmon.
Dedmon knows that as well as anyone in Hartville.
He watched his older brothers, Garith and Justin, wear an Eagle jersey but walk away with no hardware.
Dedmon was a sophomore the last time Hartville made it to the state quarterfinals before losing to Strafford, 63-62. All-state senior Shade Piper scored a game-high 19 points in that game, but his game-winning shot attempt was blocked shortly after leaving his hand.
Dedmon… and Hartville… still haven’t quite gotten over that loss.
“Whenever I go back to that Strafford game it’s tough,” said Dedmon. “I truly believe that Shade would have made that shot if it didn’t get blocked. But during that game I missed free throws and had I not then maybe we aren’t in that position. Maybe if I was a little more focused or a little more prepared we would have moved on. I always played up with those guys my entire life so on that night when they played their last game it was devastating. We wanted to go to state and it was tough to come up short of our goal.”
Junior point guard Dune Piper was a freshman on that team and Shade’s younger brother. He still remembers that loss and the hurt that his brother and the decorated Class of 2014 experienced in that loss.
Following Hartville’s 63-33 over No. 2 Wellington-Napoleon on Thursday, big brother wasn’t far from Dune’s mind.
“All I could think about after that semifinal win was how bad I wanted Shade to have that,” said Piper. “I know he really wanted it. Basketball meant more to him than really anyone I’ve known. It meant the world to him and that loss was devastating.”
That elusive state championship is all anyone in Hartville can think about right now; especially fifth-year head coach Brett Reed.
The Eagles have won four straight district titles under Reed, but this run marks the first Final Four trip of his career as a player or coach.
Reed still wears the hurt from three consecutive, tough playoff losses and the heartache of knowing those kids won’t get to experience a spring break in Columbia as a player. It still hurts, but a state championship would make it all worth it.
“If we had to go through all of that and that’s what it took to get here and win one, then it was most definitely worth it,” said Reed. “Those moments have only prepared us for this road.”
The family aspect of Hartville Basketball makes this run even more special at several levels; basketball is just kind of in the blood.
Assistant coach Doug Ward has two sons on the team, Ryan and Wyatt Ward, and the Eagles also have a set of cousins with Jace and Braden Keith.
Braden’s older brother, Zach, was a senior on the 2014 quarterfinal team, as was Hagen Simmons brother, Hunter.
Younger brothers and cousins of Hartville alum liter the Eagles current team; there is another Piper and Simmons that help serve as team managers; part of a deep staff of junior high kids poised to be future Eagles.
And of course, head coach Brett Reed has his wife, Maggie, keep the team's official book. Maggie, formally Arnall, also hit the game-winning shot for the Hartville Lady Eagles in the 2007 state championship, a corner 3 that still resonates with the community today and makes her the only person on Hartville’s bench with a championship ring.
The Eagles, specifically Coach Reed, aren’t soon to forget.
“I’ve heard about that shot thousands of times; at home, at work, when she gets up in the morning,” said Coach Reed with a smile. “I think if I had hit that shot then I would probably talk about it too. She’s going to be a legend here forever. She was a freshman and the play wasn’t drawn up for her, sometimes broken plays work out the best, but as a freshman she stepped up and hit a shot to win a state championship. She'll have bragging rights forever. If we could get one it would help me out a lot at the house.”
It has become a routine now, following every Hartville game Coach Reed will touch Mrs. Reed’s ring for good luck and it’s apparently working.
The players won’t soon forget Maggie’s bling and it doesn’t take seeing her rock to jog their memory; they were there.
Dedmon watched the game side-by-side with his brother and Piper has a lifelong reminder in the form of a picture that captures Reed’s shot and his face in the background.
For Piper, that shot is a large part of the reason he’s chasing a state championship of his own.
“This has been my goal since third grade when I saw Maggie hit that shot; we have the picture in our trophy case and you can actually see me in the background when she’s shooting that shot,” said Piper. “Since then I’ve really wanted this and really it’s just a blessing to even play in this game. I would love to win it.”
Dedmon anticipates the entire town of Hartville cramming its way into Mizzou Arena on Saturday afternoon much like it did back in 2007. Neither guard was coy in explaining just how emotional they would be following a win; Piper even admitted a win would likely cause his eyes to have a scientific reaction… due to allergies of course.
Nobody could blame either kid for shedding tears of joy and it is unlikely that there will be many dry eyes on Hartville’s bench should the Eagles pull off another win over state-ranked Iberia (Hartville beat the Rangers 69-45 during the regular season).
Reed wouldn’t allow himself to get too far ahead of Saturday’s game, but the opportunity to compete for a state championship, with this group of kids and his wife on the bench, is one that brings the well-spoken coach to a loss of words and a range of emotions.
“It seems surreal still; I don’t really have words for it,” said Reed. “I’ve always dreamed about being here and I’ve pictured it, but I guess I never thought this day would come; it takes some breaks and luck to get here. I’m excited, I’m nervous and I’m hoping I’ve done everything I can to have them ready to play tomorrow. It’s just a mixture of emotions.”
Hartville and Iberia will tipoff at 4:30 p.m. with the winner claiming its first state championship in program history.
